When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction at the hands of the invading Kargs, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry. So, at the age of 13, the boy receives his true name - Ged - and gives himself over to the gentle tutelage of the Master Ogion. But impatient with the slowness of his studies and infatuated with glory, Ged embarks for the Island of Roke, where the highest arts of wizardry are taught.

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"The shapeless mass of darkness split apart. It sundered, and a pale spindle of light gleamed between his open arms. In the oval of light there moved a human shape: a tall woman...beautiful, and sorrowful, and full of fear." - from A Wizard of Earthsea, first in a tetralogy that includes The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore, introduces the listener to Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, known also as Sparrowhawk. When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction at the hands of the invading Kargs, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry. So, at the age of 13, the boy receives his true name - Ged - and gives himself over to the gentle tutelage of the Master Ogion. But impatient with the slowness of his studies and infatuated with glory, Ged embarks for the Island of Roke, where the highest arts of wizardry are taught. There, Ged's natural talents enable him to surpass his classmates in little time. But when his vanity prompts him to summon Elfarran, the fair lady of the Deed of Enlad, he unleashes a shapeless mass of darkness - the shadow.

I can't believe I didn't listen to or read this book sooner. Ursula K. Le Guin has rekindled my believe that fantasy can be a legitimate literary genre.

Charming and entertaining like a fairy tale but simultaneously dripping with the suspense, drama, and authenticity of a Viking Saga or Epic Poem, A Wizard of Earthsea (the first of the series) cannot be ignored by any serious fantasy reader. So much sub-par fantasy is written in this, age of World of Warcraft and Eragon, that it's refreshing to have Ursula K. Le Guin to discover and delight in.

The narrator of this book makes it sound like he is recounting an ancient tale around some campfire in the Iron Age. Amazing!

While Ursula K. Le Guin wrote several novels about the fantasy world of Earthsea, A Wizard of Earthsea appears to be the first of the main cycle by that name. I found it difficult to pin down whether the series is written for children and/or adults. I concluded that while there are a number of philosophical themes that adults could appreciate, the target audience was probably that of a younger age. Let’s say YAs.

Further, on the subject of age, this is basically the coming of age story of a young mage named Ged who is drawn to wizardry and develops into just that as the story unfolds. There’s much in the way of magic, spells and personal discovery along the way. However, as Ged learns, all of the power and might of of a wizard comes with a price. Wizardry is not for the faint-hearted nor is its magic lightly wielded by the ignorant or arrogant. Much of this is taught Ged by Ogion his primary mentor along with his own life’s little (and not so little) foibles in and around Earthsea. Does all this sound a bit familiar?

The monster of the story we learn is… uh, not so fast. That would be a major spoiler. And I believe the book is worth reading to discover that as well as the other things Ged learns along his way through apprenticeship and personal discovery. The book is very straight forward. That appears to be Le Guin’s style. After recently reading a bunch of China Mielville prior to Earthsea, the latter was a refreshingly, relaxing read. However, we probably should not be fooled by her simplicity. Contained within the pages are a depth and breath that can be easily missed if we’re not paying attention. What can I say; it’s obviously a classic and who could not recommend that.

Incredibly engaging, masterfully crafted, full of some of the best-written and most complex wizards you will find in literature, A Wizard of Earthsea is the fantasy genre at its absolute finest.

Those of us who read a lot of fantasy have read too many "kid goes to wizard school" books. Many are badly written with flat characters and predictable plotlines. Ursula Le Guin dazzles in this book, which though originally published in 1968, reads as fresh and new and inspiring as all great art does. The old fantasy archetypes are brilliantly and creatively revisited, and adventure abounds.

Anyone who loves fantasy will love Earthsea, and those who don't may find this an ideal introduction. Kids, adults, you name it, Earthsea is short, well-paced, suspenseful, epic, and a delight to read. This audiobook version is excellent.

A Wizard of Earthsea is the first installment of Ursula K. Le Guin's classic fantasy. Having read the Earthsea novels (five in all, plus a collection of short tales) years ago, I was very happy with this audio version, which is beautifully done. Re-visiting Earthsea, it's interesting to notice how many of what are now conventions of fantasy writing were in fact pioneered by Le Guin so long ago.

One thing that's different about her books: the writing is beautiful but spare. She can tell you in a few paragraphs what other fantasy writers seem to need long chapters to explain. Each of the Earthsea books comes in at something around 200 pages, quite a contrast to the bloated tomes of so many contemporary fantasy writers.

Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) is a heroic fantasy classic, telling the tale of the growth of Ged, the future Archmage of Earthsea, from a proud and reckless boy hungry for knowledge and power to a young man at peace with himself. Written with poetic concision and grace, Le Guin's novel depicts compelling events in an other world with more thought, imagination, philosophy, and care than the majority of the bloated heroic fantasy novels these days can begin to muster. Her convincing depiction of a fully realized secondary world, Earthsea, complete with legends, traditions, songs, tales, different cultures and environments, and well-thought out and philosophically consistent and cool system of magic, is impressive, especially given how short her book is.

Although the short novel adheres to some genre traditions, as in, for instance, depicting the maturing of a hero through adversity and adventure with female characters playing subordinate roles as flawed teachers, beautiful temptresses, or cute supporters ("weak or wicked as woman's magic"), it also performs (especially given its era) some remarkable subversion and expansion of the genre, as in making Ged and his fellow Archipelagans people of color, depicting a school for wizards with different types of magic to be mastered, and rendering the climactic struggle as something much more interesting and meaningful than a struggle between the hero and an external evil monster.

And Le Guin's prose is a taut pleasure, every sentence being comprised of the perfect words in the perfect order with the perfect syntax and punctuation and rhythm, so that the book may be re-read multiple times, each time with a new appreciation. This is so whether she is describing characters ("He grew wild, a thriving weed, a tall, quick boy, loud and proud and full of temper") or settings ("Now the dark forest-crowned cliffs gloomed and towered high over his boat, and spray from the waves that broke against the rocky headlands blew spattering against his sail, as the magewind bore him between two great capes into a sound, a sealane that ran on before him deep into the island, no wider than the length of two galleys"), or voicing wise aphorisms ("Heal the wound and cure the illness but let the dying spirit go"), or evoking horror ("So it came over the sea, out of the Jaws of Enlad towards Gont, a dim ill-made thing pacing uneasy on the waves, peering down the wind as it came; and the cold rain blew through it") or epiphany ("In that moment Ged understood the singing of the bird, and the language of the water falling in the basin of the fountain, and the shape of the clouds, and the beginning and end of the wind that stirred the leaves: it seemed to him that he himself was a word spoken by the sunlight").

Some words about the audiobook read by Robert Inglis. I have twice listened to Inglis' definitive readings of the entire The Lord of the Rings and think he is ideally suited for Tolkien's masterpiece, giving them their necessary gravitas, pathos, suspense, humor, and beauty (including effectively doing different voices for the different characters—his Gollum, Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam are all perfect—engagingly singing the different genres of songs, and so on). However, perhaps because I first listened to Harlan Ellison's over-the-top but entertaining reading (in which he shouts, screams, whispers, sighs, sobs, sings, laughs, lectures, or just reads, endowing key words with special weight or particular pauses with extra pregnancy), Inglis sounds here a touch pale, thin, and tired. Or is it that Le Guin and Ellison are American, Inglis British? Whereas Ellison's version brought out different aspects of A Wizard of Earthsea that I hadn't noticed before, Inglis' version felt more routine. Mind you, Inglis is an excellent, professional reader, and Ellison's version is no longer available on Audible.

Anyway, people who like philosophical, poetic, concise, and original fantasy should read Le Guin’s Earthsea books, beginning with this one.

The whole world was memorable. Like revisiting an old friend after a long absence.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The range of voices could be better. More emotion could be added to the reading, although this may be due to the lyrical Tolkien-esque style of the writing.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No.

Any additional comments?

This is a classic that I read as a child that still holds up. If you've never read the book or series you owe it to yourself. The pacing is slower than a lot of tradtional fantasy and it is still formulaic, but it works. It is more along the lines of Lord of the Rings than current faster paced novels. This is the novel that really popularized the use of true names as a magic system, for that alone it's a classic.

I use this story with my English 9 class, not just because it fits so well with my curriculum, but because it is such a good story. I first read it as part of my children's lit class in university and found myself enjoying it so much I read the remaining books in the series just for fun.

This is a very thought-provoking read. Splendidly written and for once includes the responsibilities and consequences that come with great magical power.

I wish the 2nd and 3rd book were available on audible...

I was mesmerised.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Piano man 2007

Europe

8/28/11

Overall

"Good wizardry"

I enjoyed this book, made me think of Terry Pratchett but without the catchy humor :-).

The narrator voice was ok. A shame I can't find part 2 or book 2 on audible.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Macwoman

Leamington Spa, England

4/13/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Unbeatable fantasy classic"

I first read this 20 years ago and was moved to revisit it because of hearing the author, Ursula Le Guin, being interviewed on radio. She is still writing at 85, but I doubt she has bettered this magnificent book. The precursor of so much modern stuff - Harry Potter is built on its back! - but written with extraordinary sensitivity to language and character..

The hero is Ged the trainee wizard and the story is of his journey towards wisdom, the obstacles he encounters and the suffering he creates for himself through pride and the desire for fame and power. It is gripping as a yarn apart from its fascinating symbolism. I particular love the theme of self-encounter. His first mentor is Ogion, to whom he returns when he has reached rock bottom in his ability to fight the shadow. Ogion says simply:

'If you go ahead, if you keep running, wherever you run you will meet danger and evil, for it drives you, it chooses the way you go. You must choose. You must seek what seeks you. You must hunt the hunter.'

There is a whole philosophy of life in this, as it works itself out through the story.

I also love the setting of the archipelago called Earthsea, a mass of islands, inhabited by an island people whose knowledge is of the wind and the waves the sky, which is beautifully realised. And I also love the dragons! Any dragon lovers cannot afford to miss this book!

Rob Inglis's reading is adequate but it is really time we had an up-to-date version of this classic that includes all the four books in the quartet.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Mark

4/3/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Loved the Earthsea series as a child..."

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

& I really like Rob Inglis as a narrator (his reading of Lord of the Rings is fantastic).Really frustrated to find that the remaining books in the series aren't available. But still, it's one of the great fantasy works & beautifully read.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Wizard of Earthsea?

Enough good moments that I wouldn't want to spoil them for future readers.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Whereas Tolkien gives chapter & verse, allowing you to visualise as perhaps he imagined things, UKLG is more broad sweeps, allowing the reader / listener more scope for their own imagination.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Don't do it! Series was awful beyond belief.

Any additional comments?

Any chance of obtaining the rights & getting Rob Inglis in to finish recording the rest of the series?

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Amy Oudot

London, England

7/21/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Proof that classic fantasy fiction is timeless"

Would you listen to A Wizard of Earthsea again? Why?

Yes, definitely. It is a masterclass in story-telling. Le Guin builds a world whole and complete that is both engaging and

Who was your favorite character and why?

Vetch. A simple yet beautifully drawn character.

Which character – as performed by Rob Inglis – was your favourite?

Vetch. Rob Inglis' choice of accent for the character suited him well. He captured the essence of his likable nature perfectly.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I generally listen to audio books on my walk to and from work (an hour each way) and found myself reluctant to stop when I reached work and sitting at home saying to myself "just one more chapter..."

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

crazy chicken

4/25/11

Overall

"The Wizard of Eathsea"

This was a bit of an experiment for me since I don't normally listen to fantasy/ sci-fi books. It is hard to know what category to put this book into. It was a nice story and the characters were described in fine detail. It just didn't really grab me and I think I will stick to more believable, realistic stuff. This for me is the great thing about having a monthly subscription: it means I can listen to all kinds of books I might not otherwise buy to read. I am glad I read it and it was a good experience.

2 of 5 people found this review helpful

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